I. Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates generally to increasing data rates on Universal Serial Bus (USB) cables.
II. Background
Computing devices are increasingly common in modern society. Increased functionality allows greater flexibility of use for any given computing device. However, even multifunction devices need to communicate (or may at least benefit from communication) with other computing devices. Various techniques have evolved to allow such inter-device communication. While wireless techniques are increasingly popular, several wire-based techniques centered around a cable remain popular.
One such cable-based technique is embodied in the Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol. Various flavors of USB have emerged to allow data transfer and/or power transfer between devices, including USB 1.0 (now largely defunct), USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1. Within the various flavors of USB, a number of different types of plugs have also been promulgated throughout the industry, including Type-A and Type-B. Further types of connectors also exist such as Micro-A, Micro-B, Micro-AB, and Mini-B. More recently, USB promoters have set forth a USB Type-C cable and connector. Unlike prior iterations of the USB connector, the Type-C connector includes two rows of conductors such that the connector may be inserted right side up or right side down and still function. Additionally, the top and bottom rows of conductors are mirror images of one another such that regardless of orientation, the connector is backwards compatible with earlier generations of USB receptacles.
While the USB Type-C cable and connector represent an advance in user friendliness and allow for both a super-speed lane and a normal high-speed lane to be concurrently operational over the cable, there is still a need for faster data transfer over USB connections.